RiseUp is organizing a digital financial inclusion hackathon in Cairo in partnership with the United Nations’ information and communication technologies agency, International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The competition – Financial Inclusion Global Initiative (FIGI) Hackathon – will be part of the FIGI Symposium taking place in Cairo on the 21st and 22nd of January.
As the name implies, the hackathon aims to grow and encourage financial inclusion in Egypt as wells as the MENA region. 15 teams of 3-5 participants preferred by the organisers will partake in the hackathon and build digital products that allow financial inclusion with open and common APIs for merchant systems.
The winners will split $11,000 between them as prize money with the top team getting a cash prize of $6,000 and $3,000 and $2,000 for the second and third teams respectively.
“All participants will get to meet potential investors and showcase their products, while they help improve the financial lives of millions of small merchants around the world. Outstanding solutions will be taken forward by the FIGI community, a diverse set of decision-makers in the public and private sector,” RiseUp said in a statement.
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The organisers are – International Telecommunications Union, World Bank Group and the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures with support from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and is hosted by the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA) of Egypt.
A statement by RiseUp declaring the hackathon clarifies that 1.7 billion adults around the world are without bank accounts, although 1.1 billion have a mobile phone amongst them. “Innovation to expand financial inclusion is the focus of the Financial Inclusion Global Initiative (FIGI) Hackathon & Symposium,” it adds.
Egypt is also among the three model developing nations to receive technical assistance from the FIGI community in its introduction of policy reforms to stimulate digital financial inclusion. This tallies with the Egyptian government’s recent efforts to improve financial inclusion in the country.
You can learn more about the hackathon here.
